Mt. Rinjani: The Prettiest Climb in Indonesia

It went moderately steep, intensely steep, moderately steep, intensely steep, and so on in a repeating pattern... for 10-12 hours. Unfortunately for the men, it quickly became apparent that if we were all going to make it to the top, they were going to have to do most of the lifting. We're not weak, every single person in our little group has a history of over-night high-mountain climbing, but we all struggled with this one.



Don't get me started on the ascent to the campsite. That was just hiking uphill on loose ground that would literally give way and roll you backward. You had to dig the hiking sticks in before taking a step or run up. (Yes, we had to go back down the same way. Yes, everyone fell.) This was hard work that really pushed us and made us question our sanity for spending our precious few vacation days on this. What the hell were we thinking?



Then we saw it... a massive caldera filled with crystal blue water and a little smoking chimney. Suddenly, the hike didn't seem that bad anymore. It was perfect. Better than we could have hoped for. After six months of planning, we were looking at what had before just been an image on our computers, another name on our bucket list... and it was better than any of us imagined. It's not often that something actually looks better than the photographs.



So, was it worth it? Absolutely. We summited twice. Once for sunset and then again for sunrise.

The guys carried most of our gear (clothes). While the porters carried everything else and a little extra. They literally carried a watermelon up this volcano. Sitting in a circle, chowing down on fried bananas, noodles and watermelon on top of a f*ing 3,000 m mountain, it was decided that they were getting a massive tip. The porters were also nice enough to share other things with us, like some hand-rolled local cigarettes to celebrate with at the summit. It was a great time.



We were extremely lucky to have such a great team that took care of us. There were definitely some less fortunate groups on the mountain. We're experienced hikers who know to pack rain gear, but when it started to pour on the way down, they pulled out ponchos for us that they had packed just in case. I didn't see any other hikers getting free ponchos. One greedy lady came up and even asked for ours. Poor unfortunate thing. Luckily, the rain held off until we were almost off the mountain and through the trickiest climbs. We practically ran down the last few sections, jumping over roots and quickly expanding mud puddles.



On this trip, we hiked with Hajar Trekking and our guide's name was Oggy. Great guy. Highly recommend. We bonded over music, relationship problems and good tobacco. This is the kind of hike that resets the bar on what you think you can accomplish as well as on what you think mother nature is capable of. It's short, only two days and one night, but a game-changer. From here, we went on to do two days of diving at one of the nearby islands.

Images courtesy of Louis :)

Shuiyang Forest: The Best Campsite in Taiwan

It started out normal enough, just another four-hour hike through the woods. At the three-hour mark, we could have sworn we were making good time and would be out of the woods before dark. Two hours later, it's five o'clock and we're still in the woods. It's getting foggy, the sun is going down and we can't see ten steps ahead of us in the slippery medium-altitude evergreen forest. We just walk now, no stopping, no talking. We have to get out of the woods. Luckily, half an hour later we reach, drop the bags and give each other a big hug of relief. On the lake shore, we have just enough time to set up camp and collect firewood before night sets in.



Needless to say, this hike did not go as planned. The anticipated mostly flat four-hour trail turned out to be a five and half hour trek with four steep, roped rock climbs. Surprise! Not a problem, just unexpected, especially since the dogs were with us. There were multiple instances of dropping the bags in order to carefully assist the dogs down through the more challenging sections. They were champs though. No one panicked, complained, gave up or turned around. In fact, Atai really came alive on the second-day trekking back to the car. I could see the wolf. Poor Snoopy started strong but then began to wilt on the second day. An early morning swim in the lake may have had something to do with this.



What's been said so far doesn't sound very flattering, but the truth is we'd gladly do it again. We'd just be smarter and drive up the night before to camp at the trail head to get an earlier start and have more time at the lake. Staying two nights on the lake is also an option as there's a healthy running stream right next to the campsite. It'd be a great long-weekend getaway. I dream of going back there with a hammock, swimsuit and good book. Especially if you catch it during the week and have it to yourself.



The location is just amazing and the best camp site I've seen to date in Taiwan. This is mostly because of the view, lake, and freshwater source. The trail isn't bad either, a good three hours of it is on flat ground, winding in and out of evergreen forests and silver grass. It also crosses over a handful of running streams that could be made useful with one of those special filtering straws. As we learned the hard way, it's the final two hours of the trail that get you.



As we were running low on time, we hiked the lower, faster forest path to the lake. However, there is a higher mountain-way that crosses over a 2,000ish m peak. There are conflicting opinions over which way is easier, but the mountain way is most definitely longer, averaging out to about seven hours. The split in the trail for the different paths is clearly marked and easy to see. With more time, I'd have loved to try both ways, taking one in and a different one out.



The trail entrance is tucked behind a pagoda inside the Sun Link Sea Recreation Area. Campers will need to pay a $300 deposit per person upon entrance that includes overnight parking. From the resort parking lot, the trail entrance is about a 20-minute walk down the road. The pagoda is just beyond the flower center? or something like that? You'll figure it out. From the pagoda, the trail goes up into the woods, cutting over a road multiple times before letting out onto an old logging road. Follow the yellow and red tree flags.



Avoid Saturday night if possible when there can be as many as 50 to 80 people camping with tour groups. We went on a Sunday/Monday and it was perfect. There were maybe eight people total at the lake, including us.